Professor of English and renowned writer, Professor Kole Omotoso is dead
Omotoso died today, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Cape Town, South Africa.
He authored “Just Before Dawn” among his other popular and widely read books.
Professor Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso, popularly known Kole Omotoso, had lived in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa for many years.
He was 80 years old .
His family confirmed his death in a short message released in Wednesday.
“Our beloved father and husband moved on from this plane on Wednesday 19th late afternoon.
“We are sharing this with his close and much-loved community and will share more as we gather ourselves.
“Thank you for your care and love and support,” the statement said.
In South Africa, he was best known for his works of fiction and as the “Yebo Gogo man” in adverts for the telecommunications company Vodacom.
The renowned intellectual was born on April 21, 1943, in Akure, Ondo State, South West, Nigeria.
Omotoso attended the King’s College, Lagos, and the University of Ibadan and later undertook a doctoral thesis on the modern Arabic writer Ahmad Ba Kathir at the University of Edinburgh.
He returned to his alma mater, the University of Ibadan to teach Arabic studies between 1972 and 1976 from where he moved to the University of Ife to work in drama from 1976 to 1988.
Prof. Omotoso started writing for various magazines (including West Africa) in the 1970s.
He was regarded as a member of Nigeria’s literate elites
(PM News/vitalnewsngr.com)
